City India has become increasingly used to not having to wait, at least when it comes to providing goods and services. We need to see an incredible pace of instant streaming apps like Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart growing and adoptions continue to surge in the country.
Pronto, a startup that allows users to book and use cleaning, laundry and home services within 10 minutes, is taking advantage of changing consumer behavior and is currently out of stealth with a $2 million seed round led by Bain Capital Venture with a $12.5 million money rating.
Investors are likely excited to invest in such startups considering growth potential, but Pronto’s funds come when people are becoming increasingly sensitive to how gig workers are treated on the platform.
Just two months ago, another venture support home service provider, Urban Company, faced a fierce public backlash to launch a similar service. A 15-minute home cleaning service called Insta Maids quickly sparked a social media fuss, primarily due to the language city companies used in its promotional campaigns. The company later renamed the service to Insta Help, but many people, including the Gig Workers Union, seemed not entirely satisfied with the rebranding.
Pronto offers cleaning, laundry and cooking paper services with three different timing options: instant (10 minutes), schedule, and repetitive. The service is offered 24/7, and the startup guarantees 10 minutes of service access in all supported areas. The company claims more than 1,000 customers in Gurugram, North India.
Pronto founder and CEO Anjali Sardana says her company aims to address gig workers’ concerns with a “win, win, win” approach for all stakeholders.
“What’s missing from many languages surrounding these services is that they treat workers like goods. They treat them as input. That’s not how we operate,” she told TechCrunch. “We’re sitting in the same hub that these workers come and go every day, because as soon as you start to separate yourself and the workers, you lose sympathy for them.”
Government sources estimate that India has nearly 4 million domestic workers, but unofficial sources say that the number is higher in the region of 50 million. Nevertheless, most of these workers are part of the informal labor market, and Pronto considers them as key competitors.
Pronto says workers can earn around £22,000 per month if they work eight hours a day for 30 days. They also offer performance bonuses that can range from 25,000 to 26,000 pounds per month (approximately $293 to $304).
These amounts are significantly higher than what is normally paid by urban helpers in urban areas such as the Delhi-NCR region, according to the International Federation of Domestic Workers (PDF). This costs around £9,000. Saldana says her startup also serves as an agency to help workers in the face of exploitation and abuse.
Quick Service Model
Speed has become a new normal for many urban Indians, but does that mean people don’t want to wait an hour to clean their homes? Saldana thinks so.
“When they need something, they need it right away,” she said. “For that customer, getting 10 minutes of service is huge because they no longer have to plan ahead.”
Pronto began piloting the service on Gurugram in December and launched its first hub in late March. So far, the company claims that 70% of its customers have requested service twice within 14 days.
The startup operates two hubs in Gurugram, each serving within a two-mile radius. Saldana said 70-80% of the demand for pronto comes from within 500 meters (about 2-3 minutes) of each hub. Workers do not need to return to the hub between jobs, but they must start and finish the shift from there.
Avoid commissions
Pronto avoids the committee model employed in most services employing gig workers, instead paying workers per four-hour shift, once every two weeks. The company maintains the fees it charges its customers.
The company said it can start paying workers every week and choose to be paid at any time during the payment cycle.
“In the end, we’re going to build a lot of “nearly fintech” products to provide the services workers need as many people struggle to access these resources,” Saldana said. The startup is also planning to launch health insurance products for workers “quickly,” she added.
To assure customers that workers are verified and reviewed, Pronto will perform internal training, government ID and police verification, as well as court record checks, Saldana said. They also consider providing training and premium services to workers based on customer feedback.
The startup plans to open 10 new hubs in Gurugram over the next three months, growing its workforce network to 700, with staff currently increasing from over 150 workers and 21 employees to 50.
Ultimately, we plan to provide more services beyond cleaning and laundry, but the focus is on the current expansion. You’ll go deep into Gurugram and new markets like Mumbai and Bengaluru.
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